It’s so special to lead South Africa at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. I captained at the Women’s T20 World Cup last year, but ODI cricket feels very different – there’s more pressure and many more tactical decisions to make.
In T20s, once the powerplay is done, the game can be more straightforward but in ODIs, you constantly have to balance when to attack and when to defend. It’s a huge honour and an exciting challenge, and I’m very happy and grateful to lead this side.
We’ve had good preparation for this tournament and learned a lot of lessons from past ICC events. In the last few ODI World Cups, we made semi-finals. I remember being part of that first semi-final loss in 2017 – it really hurt the group, but it helped us see that we could compete with the best sides in the world and qualifying for a final one day is more a question of “when” and not “if” it would ever happen. The belief is very strong in our side going into this tournament.
We’d like to keep that momentum going, and we’ll have to play very good cricket in tough conditions, but I strongly believe that we have a very good squad of 15 players on the plane, so I’m very excited for this tournament.
We bat very deep, with a lot of all-rounders giving us different bowling options, which is exciting for me as captain.
Our middle order has really fired recently with players like Chloé Tryon, Annerie Dercksen, and Nadine de Klerk finishing games strongly. Marizanne Kapp is one of the best players South Africa has ever had – she always performs in the big moments. Nonkululeko Mlaba has also been phenomenal, and I think she will be crucial in subcontinent conditions. I can’t wait to see her bowl in India especially.
In subcontinent conditions, the local teams come into the game a lot more. We’ve lost to New Zealand in a World Cup final, and teams like Australia and England are always strong.
The most important thing for us is to trust the process and take it one game at a time. You never want to get ahead of yourself – it’s a long tournament with lots of cricket, so staying present and focusing on ourselves is key. Every opponent will be tough, especially in these conditions, where subcontinent players are excellent against spin and their bowlers are very crafty. Teams like Australia, India, and New Zealand prepare very well, so there’s never an easy game.
To the fans at home – sport has incredible power to unite people in South Africa. The thought of families and friends gathering to watch us play is so special. It makes us proud as a group to know that people are behind us.
We want to make our country proud, and we want to do our families proud. Every bit of support motivates us to be a united force on the field, and hopefully unite the nation too.
We’re very excited, and I hope everyone tunes in to watch us.
Shy Warrior
The fastest cricket pitch ever recorded was thrown by Shoaib Akhtar during the 2003 Cricket World Cup. He clocked in at 100.23 mph (161.3 km/h) during a match with England. Akhtar’s feat made him the first cricket bowler to reach 100 mph and he did this twice during his storied career. He earned the nickname “The Rawalpindi Express” for his impressive pitches.
manmaker
The Rugby World Cup 1995 was held in South Africa: South Africans take a lot of pride in their rugby team, popularly called ‘The Springsbook.’ As the FIFA World Cup, South Africa was the first African country to host the Rugby World Cup tournament in 1995. The event became more successful as South Africa won the finale against New Zealand. The team was amazing enough to win the IRB Rugby World Cup two more times in 2007 and again in 2019.